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Home Detention For Scottsdale DUIs May Become Available This Summer

The Scottsdale City Council may approve Home Detention on April 27, 2010. This would allow some people convicted of DUI in Scottsdale to serve a portion of their jail sentence in a Home Detention Program. If approved, a Home Detention Program in Scottsdale could be available this summer.

This is great news for people charged with Extreme DUI sentences or second offense DUI in the Scottsdale City Court. If the Home Detention Program becomes available this summer, this means some people serving jail sentences longer than 15 days will not have to sweat out the remaining portions of their sentences in Sherriff Joe’s Tent City.

Arizona Law Permits Home Detention After The First 15 Days Of A Jail Sentence

Currently, Arizona Law requires people serve 15 days of their sentence in jail prior to being eligible to serve the remaining portion of their sentence in a home detention program. The minimum Jail sentence for a First Offense Extreme DUI is 30 consecutive days in jail and 180 days for a second offense Super Extreme DUI. So, people facing these types of jail sentences can take advantage of the home detention program because the sentences require more than 15 days in jail.

Other Home Detention Benefits For Arizona DUIs

Aside from not having to serve the remaining portion of your sentence in jail, there are other benefits to Home Detention. For example, most people serving a second offense DUI sentence may have their driver’s license revoked during the time they are serving their jail sentence. So, obtaining a ride to and from work will likely be much easier if you are asking for a ride from your home than from the County Jail, which is located in vicinity of Durango and 32nd Street.

Another benefit of home detention is the amount of money people will save on paying jail costs. Arizona DUI Law requires people convicted of DUI to pay their jail costs. The Maricopa County jail charges Scottsdale $192.00 for the first day of jail and $72.00 for every subsequent day. Under this formula, a 30 day jail sentence would cost $2,280.00 and $13,080.00 for a 180 day sentence. I have had some clients pay less than $18.00 a day for home detention. Obviously, the savings could be tremendous.

Additional Requirements For Home Detention In Arizona

Other requirements for home detention are that the person cannot have a history of violence or domestic violence nor pose a danger to the community. A hard phone line is also required. The person must also have a job in Maricopa County. It is estimated that over half of the people convicted of DUI in Scottsdale would be eligible for home detention.